Rochdale 1 - 2 Colchester

Rochdale lost their unbeaten start to the season after going down 2-1 to Colchester United at Spotland this afternoon.

Craig Dawson had levelled for Keith Hill’s men two minutes into the second half, but an 85th minute counter attack saw John Ward's men leave Spotland with the points to earn their first win of the season.

Dale boss Keith Hill named one change to the side that had started the previous three games as Anthony Elding, who has impressed after coming on from the bench in the last two games, earned a starting berth at the expense of Jean Louis Akpa-Akpro, who dropped to the bench. New signing Celtic Josh Thompson didn’t make the 16 man squad. The visitors had former Dale favourite David Perkins in their starting 11.

Rochdale started the game very brightly and for the first half hour dominated proceedings. Full back Widdowson was unlucky to be flagged offside on the quarter hour mark after he and Joe Thompson linked up well down the right.

Scott Wiseman was pushing forward at every opportunity and almost teed up Thompson but his cross was cleared by Okuonghae with the striker about to head home.

The young Dale striker was at the heart of the action again just a couple of minutes later after Widdowson played a ball into the feet of Thompson around the penalty spot but he opted to pass when he should have shot.

Craig Dawson saw his header saved easily by Cousin’s in the Colchester goal after Barry-Murphy’s free-kick.

The visitors were certainly on the back foot and just 30 seconds later Dale had the opportunity to break the deadlock when Marcus Holness floated a delightful ball over the Colchester defence to Elding who had beaten the offside trap but the former Stockport striker couldn’t control and the chance went.

With the game approaching the half hour mark, the visitors started to get a foot hold in the game.

David Mooney had to quick fire chances to open the scoring but his first effort was deflected wide whilst his second he really should have done better with.

Widdowson was caught in possession by Henderson whilst inside the visitors half. The striker raced away before whipping in a cross that found Mooney unmarked but his header was off target.

John Ward’s side had turned the game around and had the home side on the ropes and came very close to opening the scoring on 32 minutes. The lively Henderson reacted quickest after Jason Kennedy gave possession away but could only loft the ball against the bar when through one-on-one with Lillis - Craig Dawson clearing the loose ball.

Lillis was again called into action with nine minutes of the half remaining when Henderson again got space but the Dale stopper made a flying save to deny Colchester the lead.

Lillis could do nothing as the deadlock was broken just two minutes later. Midfielder Andrew Bond picked up from around 20 yards and unleashed a powerful shot that took a deflection off Jason Kennedy and into the top corner to make it 1-0.

The goal seemed to deflate Dale who were on the back foot for the rest of the half.

A mix up in the home defence almost cost Hill’s side but Dawson cleared for a corner. From the resultant flag kick, Bond turned the ball goal wards but another great save from Lillis denied the visitors a 2-0 lead.

The homes side came out for the second half looking to make an immediate impression and did just that with less than two second half minutes on the clock.

Widdowson won Rochdale a corner on the left which Barry-Murphy took. The former Bury player’s ball was inch perfect for defender Craig Dawson who coolly side footed the ball past Cousin’s to bring the score level.

It was no less than Hill’s men deserved after the first half hours performance and the home fans were really making some noise inside Spotland.

You could see that Dale had the bit between their teeth and Elding almost gave them the lead after collecting a raking 50 yard pass from Dawson but the striker fired over in what was to be his last action of the game.

The Dale management team opted to replace Elding with Akpa-Akpro and also new loan signing Andrew Tutte replacing Thompson.

The change almost paid off immediately after Dawson sent another long pass over the U’s defence towards Akpa-Akpro. The Frenchman controlled impeccably but his effort on the turn cannoned off the bar and away.

The home side were again looking the better side with Akpa-Akpro providing plenty of energy. It was he and O’Grady that forged the next chance after great power from last season’s leading scorer made space from the new signing from Grimsby but his left footed effort was inches wide.

With Dale having the majority of the play in the last half hour it was them that looked most likely to net the winner but disaster struck for Dale with just five minutes remaining on the clock. Mooney picked out the troublesome Henderson with a delightful through ball who lofted over the on rushing Lillis to take the points back to Essex.

It was tough luck on Keith Hill’s side who did enough to earn at least a point but you don’t always get what you deserve in football.

Plenty of positives to take from the game but a defeat is a defeat no matter how you look at it and the players will have to re-group ahead of the trip to Premier League Birmingham on Thursday for a Carling Cup second round tie.

Keith Hill said after the game: “I thought it was a good game, we probably deserved something out of the game but we have been done on the counter attack.

"A quality goal but you’re most vulnerable when in possession high up the pitch. We are trying to score a second goal but you have to have a defensive brain about us that means keeping the back door closed. From their point of view it’s a great goal, from our point of view we should be guarding against that but that’s the step up we have made.

"The players have got to get that balance. We have to look at the whole picture here and I am very happy with the lads. The commitment, the energy levels and what they are trying to achieve. We have got to realise where we are, we are in this league and there has to be a progressive improvement.

"I wouldn’t say there was a loss of form today but they edged with that little bit of quality they have got and our naivety to this standard of football. I am relatively happy with the majority of things we are doing but I’m not happy with the result today.

“I thought it was an excellent corner and an excellent finish from Craig for the equaliser.

"We started the game really well but when we are in the final third we have to be as ruthless as the teams that we are playing against and I don’t think we quite are at this moment in time.

"We need to get more shots away and crosses into the box; we aren’t quite there yet with that especially when we started the game so well.

"We had good possession counts but we let them back into it towards the end of the first half. We should have managed the situation better that led to their first goal; we had enough men behind the ball to not go in at half time one down.

"We started the second half very well and got a deserved equaliser but after that we pushed for a second and gave them the opportunity to counter attack us.

"I know the players want to win the game for themselves and for the supporters but there has to be a balance between pushing for the winner and not losing the game in the pursuit of trying to win it.

"In the two 45 minutes that Anthony Elding had played, we had scored three goals whereas prior to that we hadn’t scored any so I thought he offered something a little bit different to the opposition.

“We will try and create a pressure free environment ahead of Thursday’s game. It’s a massive fixture against Birmingham but so is the League game against Brentford next Saturday. It will be good for us to pit our wits against Premier League opposition and a little bit more exposure for the football club.

"This will be our ninth televised game in the past three and half years which is a great impact for the club”

“The signing of Josh Thompson is brilliant for the club. He played a lot last season for Celtic and he is from the local area so it was a great opportunity to recruit him. He offers a lot going forward with respect to the way we want to defend and play.

"It would be great to recruit some more players but it’s highly unlikely although if we a get a few bargains thrown our way then we will have a look at them.”

 

Rochdale 1-2 Colchester United

Dawson (47) Bond (38)
Henderson (85)
Att: 3016

Rochdale: 
Lillis, Widdowson, Holness, Dawson, Wiseman, Jones (c), Barry-Murphy, Kennedy (Redshaw 85), Elding (Akpa-Akpro 57), Thompson (Tutte 57), O’Grady.
Subs (not used): Edwards, Done, Goodall, Andre

Colchester: Cousins, Okuongae, Reid (Baldwin 81), Izzet (c), Bond, Henderson, Perkins (Beevers 79), Mooney (Odejayi 87), Wislon, Wordsworth, Tierney
Subs (not used): Vincent, White, James, Pentney

Referee: Nigel Miller
Assistant Referee’s: Mr England & Mr Metcalfe
4th official: Mr Handley

 

Rochdale
Cautions: 0
Possession: 54%
Attempts on target: 3
Fouls: 11
Corners: 4


Colchester Cautions: 0
Possesion: 46%
Attempts on target: 10
Fouls: 12
Corners: 6